Mason on a Mission
Building Back a Safer Nepal
Chhetra Bahadur Gurung starts his day before five o’clock to finish his morning chores, eat his breakfast, and depart for work by eight o’clock. The 63-year-old lives with his wife in Thanapati village in the Nuwakot District of central Nepal — about 50 kilometers from Kathmandu — in a house that he built after the earthquake. Chhetra, who worked as a mason his entire life, has built hundreds of houses throughout his nearly 40-year career.
When an earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, Chhetra was putting up a wall for a house under construction in his village. Shocked, he rushed home to check the state of his own house, which he had built himself. While many houses in the village came crumbling down, he was relieved to find that his was still standing.
“My own house was partly damaged,” Chhetra said. “It didn’t crumble, but there were several cracks.”
The April and May 2015 earthquakes in Nepal damaged or destroyed over 816,000 homes. Most of these houses were not built by professionals; they were built by homeowners, like Chhetra, with little consideration of seismic risks or building codes.
The immense structural damage to housing after the earthquake highlighted many vulnerabilities. Construction workers and homeowners lacked awareness of and training in earthquake-safe construction — especially in rural areas. There were no national curricula, standards, guidelines, and manuals to train individuals involved in housing construction. And there was too little compliance with building codes.
Before the earthquake, Chhetra never had a chance to learn from or work alongside a qualified engineer. He never went to school or had formal masonry training. Rather, he learned while working for other masons and homeowners. That was the norm in Nepal, and many Nepalis like Chhetra took up masonry as a profession from learning-by-doing.
“Having spent many years building houses, I had some sense of how to make it safe,” said Chhetra. “But now I know I knew very little.”
Post-earthquake, the United States has provided more than $190 million to assist in relief, recovery, and reconstruction efforts. As part of this assistance, USAID introduced the Baliyo Ghar (Strong Home) activity which continues to provide opportunities for Chhetra and other masons to learn how to construct earthquake-safe homes. Baliyo Ghar helps homeowners and communities rebuild in a way that increases their resilience to future disasters and is closely aligned with the Government of Nepal’s homeowner-driven housing reconstruction project, which empowers and supports homeowners to build back safer.
This is helping Nepal accelerate its reconstruction efforts using the local workforce, and ensures support for future construction needs as Nepal grows and develops. The rise in demand for qualified masons has simultaneously ensured steady and better incomes for many Nepalis, improving quality of life and prosperity.
“I completed the seven-day training from Baliyo Ghar a year after the quake. That was my first formal training,” Chhetra said. “I learned to build earthquake-resilient houses.”
“After the mason training, I realized we were building weak houses before. We made many mistakes,” he said. “I learned many small but important things. If I had this knowledge and skills before, I would have made my house stronger.”
When Chhetra started masonry in his twenties, things were much different.
“Earlier, we did as we liked or as the house owner told us to do,” recalled Chhetra. “Now, they agree when I advise them how to make their homes stronger.”
While many masons his age retired a long time ago, Chhetra still sees a long career ahead.
“I would like to learn more. I recently also completed a 25-day training on retrofitting.” he said. “We hadn’t even heard of retrofitting. Now, I know how to do it. This will keep the original structure and make a house safer to live in.”
Prakash Shrestha, a civil engineer who is familiar with Chhetra’s work, said: “He is highly sought for by everyone. He is one of the few dependable workers known for earthquake-safe construction.”
Post-earthquake, Chhetra’s work has increased significantly, and so has his income.
The increased income has considerably improved Chhetra’s quality of life. He feels more comfortable buying food and other things for his family — especially clothes and books for his five grandchildren. He is hopeful he can finally save for their future.
Building safe houses is more than a career for Chhetra — it is his passion.
“I not only like to learn, I also like to share my knowledge,” he said. “If the younger generation comes with a little interest in masonry, I would love to teach them how to build safe and strong houses.”
Chhetra’s neighbors and others in his community nowadays seek his advice before and during construction.
“People need strong houses, and they need people who can make strong houses,” he said. “If somebody needs advice on safe construction, they come looking for me.”
While the earthquakes damaged over 700 houses in the village of Thanapani, this community is one of many villages that has rebuilt all of the damaged homes using earthquake-safe construction under the leadership of Baliyo Ghar-trained masons such as Chhetra.
“I have already made 22 earthquake-safe houses in the village,” he explained. I have a team of about six to seven people. Sometimes, I have 10 to 12 helpers, according to the workload.”
USAID is rebuilding lives and communities by helping Nepalis become self-reliant and resilient. Since the earthquake, USAID has trained nearly 23,000 masons like Chhetra — including 5,000 new masons — on earthquake-resilient construction techniques. In addition, USAID is helping homeowners rebuild over 45,500 earthquake-safe homes to house nearly 228,000 individuals.
About the Authors
Pamala Horugavye is the Senior Development Outreach and Communication Specialist for USAID’s mission in Nepal. Pravaran Mahat is the Development Outreach and Communication Specialist for USAID’s mission in Nepal.
